Tuesday, March 25, 2014

#Wikidata #statistics

It takes an effort to understand where Wikidata is taking us. It is not clear, it is not obvious and all we have are trends. The latest statistics of Wikidata show that items with statements and the items with labels are growing nicely. It is encouraging to notice that the number of items with multiple statements and to a lesser degree the items with multiple statements are growing more quickly than the number with none or one. What it means is that Wikidata becomes more usable. With more statements there is more information to provide. With more labels more information is available in more languages. Given the multiplier involved because of the use of items in other statements, adding labels has a profound effect on the usability.

When you look at the number of links per item, you will find that this year the number of items linked to only one project has grown. One reason is that bots have run to add missing articles to Wikidata. This makes it easier to add statements about all entries in a category for instance. It makes Wikidata more complete and consequently more valuable. Having to merge items can be easy and obvious with a bit of experience in Wikidata.

The statistics that break down the number of labels and links per project provide a different perspective. It indicates to what extend we are able to share in the sum of the knowledge that is available to us. For English, the language we support best, 41.6% of the Wikidata items have a label. We can provide information about the missing items because of tools like the Reasonator. It does provide fall back to labels in other languages.

It is fun to write about subjects like Reasonator and Wikidata. Opportunities arise, issues arise and it is wonderful to notice that many are addressed. It is wonderful to experience how useful Wikidata is becoming. At some stage these blog posts will be the subject of research because what is happening is not what is foreseen.